


Chicago Stroll

by scullyphile



Category: The X-Files
Genre: Chicago, F/M, Flirty, Fluff, Lake Michigan, date, goldberg variation
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-12-03
Updated: 2015-12-03
Packaged: 2018-05-04 17:42:22
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 838
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5342786
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/scullyphile/pseuds/scullyphile
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>First time out in public as a couple & being flirty. Mulder and Scully enjoying some free time in Chicago just after Goldberg Variation.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Chicago Stroll

They strolled near Union Station and The Sears Tower, headed in the direction of Lake Michigan. 

“I know you’re in a hurry to get back to DC, back to our normal lives,” he started.

“Yes,” she confirmed.

“OK, but consider this. We’re in Chicago, no one knows us here. We’re off duty. We can do whatever we want, be however we want. I’m not ready to go back to my comfort zone, and I don’t think you are either. C’mon Scully, tell me you don’t want to experience something totally new and normal for a change, to be just another face in the crowd.”

“You don’t need me to do that,” she countered, but her tone made it clear she wanted to be invited. She had deflected rather than denied. He heard the message underneath: _tell me you want me with you, and I’ll come. Persuade me._ The brushing of her arm against his sent a tingling up to his shoulder and down to his spine. He hooked his arm around hers.

“Au contraire. I need you on this. You’re tangled up in the events of my life now. We have to see where this contraption is leading us.”

“You’re saying you feel lucky?” she asked, leaning her weight into the side of him to emphasize the word lucky.

“I’m saying let’s pretend we’re a normal couple.”

“Couple,” she repeated with the tiniest chuckle underneath the word. Instead of looking at him directly, she glanced at the image of the two of them reflected in a shop window. He hoped she saw what he saw, a pair, a duo, a set.

“Don’t tell me we’re _still_ not official. Do I have to give you my pin and ask you to go steady?” he joked, nudging her so that she almost collided with an elderly man who smelled strongly of marijuana.

The El passed overhead, and she was saved from responding by its loud rumbling. Even if she had spoken, he would not have heard her. Instead he busied himself by studying her face. She was holding in a smile and not doing a very good job. All he needed was one more clever comment or quip to get it out of her, but he decided to try another approach.

He untangled his arm from hers, smiling at the brief flash of disappointment on her face. With his newly freed hand, he reached behind her and placed his palm gently but firmly on her ass. It was difficult, but he did not squeeze, simply kept it there. She had on long coat, and as a result, no one had a particularly good view of his actions.

“Mulder!” she hissed, “What do you think you’re doing?”

“I don’t know what you mean, _honey._ I’m not doing anything I wouldn’t normally do.”

“Oh, I see. Two can play this game,” she said, looking both ways as if she were a kid about to cross the street without an adult.

He expected her hand on his ass, which is why he was taken by surprise when she pushed him against the wall of a building, stood on her toes, and kissed him. It wasn’t as though they were making out on the street. It was lips firmly touching lips with no tongue, although he’d been considering a deeper kiss when he heard someone whistle nearby, and she pulled away, grinning and red.

Unsure what his next move should be, he stood in place for a moment. The closest business was a coffee shop, so he suggested they duck inside. They stood looking up at the menu board for several minutes, holding hands. They talked only about what kind of drink to order and whether or not she should get a biscotti. He urged her to get one, and she refused. When it was their turn to order, however, he requested two large coffees and two chocolate biscotti.

Hot drinks in hand, they walked the rest of the way to the lake. They stopped briefly to look at Buckingham Fountain before sitting down on a concrete staircase and looking out at Lake Michigan. People jogged by or rode their bikes. Several house sparrows pecked at the ground at their feet, unafraid. Closer to the water, seagulls swooped, searching for someone who would feed them.

Scully leaned her head on his shoulder, and their legs touched. His hand came to rest on the inside of her thigh.

“Mulder,” she muttered, and he thought she was about to ask him to pull back his advance on her leg. She didn’t. He waited, but she didn’t elaborate; it seemed she just wanted to utter his name. They watched the water until it was almost dark.

“We’d better get back,” he whispered finally, and rubbed his nose against her cheek.

“There is no going back,” she said, her eyes focused on something far away.

He gently pushed her chin up, so he could look her in the eyes.

“I know,” he agreed. “It’s all already in motion.”


End file.
